UV exposure is a major source of degradation and deterioration of textile materials including carpets.
Samples of machine-woven cut-pile carpets were prepared and exposed to different UV exposure times
using a UV chamber. The short-term static loading was then applied to the carpets and the recovery
properties and the thickness loss of the samples were measured using standard methods. The results
showed that the variation of the thickness loss in different load removal times was steep at first and
obeyed an exponential trend. As the time was increased, it tended to a lower slope and at a certain point,
it reached a constant value. No statistically significance difference was observed in the thickness losses
following 60 min of load removal time after static loading. UV radiation caused a significant increase in
the thickness loss, or compression of piles, under static loading. Curve fitting process was applied and
then the theoretical recovery speed equation was predicted. The results revealed that the compression
of the carpets under static loading was higher in the case of UV exposure carpets. However, the speed of
the recovery after load removal was much higher in the case of UV exposure carpets, in comparison to the
non-exposure carpets.